The Cured
by Shad of Shadow
Summary: A survivor finds a mysterious serum said to cure the infection. Unfortunately, he also found the lab destroyed and only a group of 8 samples labelled mysteriously with the names of the infected... My first Fanfic.
1. Chapter 1: Hunter

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Left 4 Dead, Valve does. I'm pretty sure we're all sick of these disclaimers, but it keeps things safe.

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The Cure

Chapter 1- Hunter

The Hunter prowled down the street, nose twitching as he sniffed the air for the familiar scent of un-diseased flesh. Although any meat would satisfy the hunger, only uninfected had a lasting effect. The Hunter howled as his sensitive nose found the scent he sought. He ran towards the source of the smell, mouth watering. He slammed into the door blocking his route and found himself facing a survivor holding a needle/syringe in one hand and a pistol in the other.

"Bite. Kill. Eat." Muttered the Hunter, although the survivor could only hear growls.

To the Hunter's surprise, the human, rather than back off like most did, lunged straight at him, stabbing him with the needle and injecting the contents of the syringe into his bloodstream.

"Pain! Bad! Angry!" Screamed the Hunter, as he leapt on top of the human before him. He raised his clawed hand, ready to rip the face off the human who hurt him...but suddenly found that he just couldn't.

"What am I doing?" He thought. "And why can I think in coherent sentences again? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

The fear in the survivor's eyes faded as the hunter on top of him paused (quite literally) just inches away from killing him. He had been worried that he had been wrong about the liquid in the syringe, but it appeared as if he had been right after all.

He spoke for the first time, his voice cutting through the Hunter's mind "Please, get off me."

The Hunter, realising what he was doing and able to do something, lowered his claw and stepped back from his former foe. The survivor rose to his feet, dusted himself off and looked his charge. The scruffy Hunter stood in front of him, seeming dazed from the stuff in the syringe. Before the Hunter could reply, he lent forward and flicked back the creature's hood, revealing a muddy face with razor teeth and a LOT of dried blood. He also noticed the creature had his eyes closed.

"Open your eyes." He ordered the Hunter.

Again obeying commands, the Hunter attempted to do so. His first attempt resulted only in pain shooting through his brain at the foreign amount of light. Even more confusing was that the Hunter could have sworn that he had a faint memory of tearing his own eyes out when he first changed, like all Hunters do to increase their other senses. Deciding to just accept how things are at the moment, he attempted a second time to open his eyes. This attempt was more successful, with a watery image floating in front of him. After blinking a few times, he was able to see the middle-aged survivor standing in front of him; instead of just being able to smell his presence. Realising how the survivor didn't seem to have as much muck on his face as the Hunter did, the Hunter decided to remove some of it. Seeing a sink nearby, he walked over to it and, remembering how for the first time since he first mutated, turned it on to wash himself, careful not to hurt himself with his claws.

Seeing this, the survivor decided to speak again. "Well, you don't speak English, but you are regaining some of the less animalistic mentalities, so there is hope for you. Can you remember your name? Just nod or shake your head if you can't speak."  
The Hunter shook his head at this, and then pointed at the survivor.

"My name? I'm Steven." Stated the survivor. "And since you can't remember your own name, I'll call you Kieran. It was a name I always liked and you look a bit like a 'Kieran'".

Kieran nodded his acceptance and Steven held out a hand for the Hunter to shake "Welcome back to the unsafe side..."

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This isn't the end, there is more to the story, I'll update when I can.

Also, this is my first Fanfic, so please R & R.


	2. Chapter 2: Explanations

**Thank you to all of you who commented! It really is encouraging.**

**This chapter is a little slower than the last, but things will get better from here :)**

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Chapter 2-Explanations

Kieran and Steven remained in their "house" for a few days, the same house where the two of them met, Steven teaching Kieran to speak again; which was aided greatly by Kieran's returning memories. At the same time, Kieran taught Steven about his former allies and showing him how each infected type fought, along with scaring off anything dumb enough to approach their temporary home. The only exception to one very stupid ex-policeman, they generally got the idea when the hunter started growling. Anything with the remains of a brain knew a hunter growing was one of the universal words for "Go away. NOW." When the policeman had disregarded this, Kieran had taught him the error of his ways. At the end, he was barely recognisable. Steven had retched when Kieran had cheerfully shown him the only intact part of the body, an arm, and ordered him to "throw that thing away." The hunter wasn't happy to do so, but he threw it out and amused himself for a few minutes by tossing bits of common to his brethren and watching them fight over the meat.

After two days, Steven showed Kieran his greatest treasures: seven syringes similar to the one he had stabbed Kieran with. Each one had a slight colour difference and a helpful label with the name of the infected it was designed to work on.

"I stabbed you with the "hunter" syringe Kieran. I only have one of each type of infected, so I'm hoping you can help me find them and return them to our side. From what I'm seeing in you, the cure removes the worst of the disease, but leaves you with the parts which benefit you. But I'm hoping a group of cured together will show how it works. You will be a family, all surviving together!" Steven had said, growing more and more excited as he spoke.

As for Kieran, he had only replied to his new friend's excitement with what little he could. After a firm pause, he had replied "Sounds good, Steven." And, for the first time, the ex-hunter smiled...

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**There you go, Chapter 2. R & R please.**


	3. Chapter 3: Smoker

**Thanks to all those who reviewed and added me to Author alert! It really helps motivate me to keep going!**

**So here's Chapter 3.**

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Chapter 3- Smoker

At the end of their fourth day together, the odd duo left their "house" and hit the streets in search of a new base of operations, a real safe house, preferably with food, water, medicine and weapons. The pair easily avoided wondering common infected, with Kieran's enhanced senses making the already easy job even easier, and cleared away a mob of infected by Kieran casually walking into their midst and ripping into them with his claws, while at the same time Steven came running out, shotgun blasting. Caught between a hammer and a hard place, the infected died screaming what sounded like obscenities at the "traitor", which only he could understand.

On a nearby building, another infected was watching the events below. This infected was known as a "Smoker" to the survivors who faced it, although it also was known as "HURRRK" as his tongue constricted their neck. The Smoker had seen the entire event from below. A hunter had walked into a horde of commons, which wasn't too uncommon as the "special" infected often would act as the brains of their dumber brethren. What WAS uncommon was that the hunter had then proceeded to disembowel and maul any commons within reach, while a survivor had raced out of a dark corner and blasted any commons in his sight. When the two reached each other, rather than fight, they had stood back to back and finished up the mess they had made, followed by the pair walking off. The meal and the predator had simply ignored each other. The smoker had been looking forward to being able to grab a meal from the loser's corpse, but now there was nothing but common infected, which tasted disgusting and barely affected the hunger within the infected. Hungry, the smoker followed the unlikely pair, careful to stay downwind of the hunter, allowing the smoker to stalk the pair unnoticed.

The attack occurred suddenly. Once moment Steven was behind Kieran with his shotgun ready, they next he wasn't. The hunter spun around and saw Steven already halfway up the wall of the two-story building nearby, being dragged up painfully by a long rope-like appendage. Filled with rage, Kieran left up onto the roof and slashed the appendage out of the mouth of the infected who owned the offending limb. He heard a grunt of pain below as Steven dropped a few metres onto the ground, still wrapped in the "tongue" of the infected. Kieran lashed out at the infected with his claws, only for his foe to catch him by his wrists and hold him in a deadlock.

Below, Steven was horrified to see his friend in danger from such a creature. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a few syringes, before returning all but the one labelled "Smoker". He quickly attached the needle needed for the release of the serum and slotted the syringe into the special launcher on top of his shotgun. Aiming carefully as to avoid hitting Kieran, he hit the launch button on the weapon and watching as the needle zoomed toward the pair...

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**And I end in a cliffhanger. Nasty, aren't I? :P**


	4. Chapter 4: Injection

**Thanks for all the reviews people! I also wish to thank everyone who helps me improve my work. (Such as my editor, Ikkad. TYVM Ikky!)**

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The Cured Chapter 4

Kieran screeched in pain, causing the Smoker to jump back in shock. He hadn't seen anything nearby, but the hunter before him was now standing, looking slightly annoyed, with a needle he had pulled out from his thigh.

"Brilliant aiming, moron." He yelled over the edge, before pouncing on the still stunned Smoker.

"Try THIS stuff." He growled at his foe, before plunging the needle into the creature's leg and injecting the serum into the Smoker's bloodstream.

At first, nothing happened at all, and then the hungry look in the Smoker's eyes died down and he shook his head, seemingly confused. With a sickening slithering sound, all the tentacles which covered the Smoker's body slid off his body and hit the ground (except, mysteriously, the one inside his mouth, which simply continued to regenerate as if nothing had happened). The large growth covering the left side of his face deflated then slowly smoothed back into his normal skin. The shock of these changes was too much, and the smoker fell unconscious.

Kieran approached the former smoker and leapt off the building, landing with a solid thud onto the ground below. Steven ran over and took one of the smoker's arms over his shoulder and helping Kieran drag the smoker into the safe room. Kieran immediately curled up and went to sleep in a corner, while the smoker was dropped onto the bed and Steven stood near the door in case the barricade would not hold. He didn't sit for long, only an hour by his watch, before the smoker woke up. As the former infected groaned, Kieran woke up, leapt to his feet and stood by Steven's side as the two watched the smoker get up with jerky movements. The smoker turned to the duo nearby and made a rasping noise. Kieran lent forward and handed him a bottle of water he had found. The smoker quickly downed the liquid, and then tried again to speak, to no avail. Steven decided to lead the conversation

"Can you understand what I'm saying?" He received a nod in reply. "Don't worry too much about talking; it will come back to you. Kieran here couldn't speak when I met him."

"Even if Steven won't help you remember, I'll do it" stated the hunter. The smoker looked at him with a smile, which Kieran took as thanks.

"Can you remember your name?" Steven asked, deciding that "smoker" wasn't a very nice thing to call someone. To Steven's frustration, the smoker shook his head. Kieran however, wouldn't take that as an answer and moved forward to the smoker, before stepping back with the item he had removed from the smoker's pocket, which had taken easily because of the smoker's shock. Handing it to Steven, the survivor quickly found something he was looking for.

"Richard Stewart. That's what your driver's licence says your name is."

The newly named Smoker smiled at his name, sparking something in his mind.

"Rr-rriiichaaarrrddd..." He rasped out.

Kieran smiled at how quickly his new "brother", as he saw Richard, was grasping the concept and pat him on the shoulder, with a simple,

"Welcome to the team, brother."

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**Remember to R & R. It really helps keep me motivated.**


	5. Chapter 5: Boomer

**Yet another thanks to those who comment and add me to author/story alerts. And a big thank you to Ikkad, whom without I would never have the guts to post this. **

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Chapter 5

Standing on a two-story building, Kieran and Richard observed the fat, bloated, creature waddling below them. Steven had told the two that they needed additional members on their "team" if they hoped to survive in this apocalypse. After all, the problem wasn't always the infected. Many people had gone insane from the idea of zombies and turned into murdering maniacs (either that or always had been maniacs and now simply could get away with it).

Others had grown paranoid and feared all life, barricading up a safe house and ignoring pleas for aid. This meant, according to Steven, that forming a group with unique abilities would increase survival chances. To the group's surprise, they had found a CEDA logbook with an extensive series of notes on a creature dubbed a "Boomer."

Since this name matched one of Steven's syringes, he immediately noted down everything about the creature, then requested that the two former infected find a Boomer and compare the real creature to what he had discovered.

And so this lead up to where the duo now stood. They had been trailing this particular Boomer for a day now. They had observed several Boomers before this one. They seemed far more fragile than even the common type infected, with anything sharp touching the boomer's stomach and its obvious where its name comes from. It explodes with great force and releases a disgusting-looking vomit-like substance. This substance summons every infected for miles around. After all, it smelt delicious (although, when Richard tried some, his body had rejected it and left him hurling all over the side path, leaving Kieran in hysterics).

But this particular Boomer was different. Unlike the others which were being observed only, this one had a fate of being recruited into their team (or, as Richard put it "Grab 'em and Stab 'em).

Standing a metre behind the pair, wearing the clothes of a recently deceased common over his normal clothing, was Steven. He normally avoided leaving the safe house when they weren't travelling, but Steven refused to stay behind while this transformation was completed.

The two Cured didn't have the energy to debate the topic with the Survivor, so he was now travelling with them and acting as sentry while the other two stabbed the Boomer. With a grunt of effort, Kieran leapt over the railing in front of him and landed directly behind the Boomer. Aiming carefully, Kieran lined up the needle in his hand with the point on the Boomer's neck which he knew wouldn't explode.

The needle slid cleanly into the Boomer's flesh and Kieran injected the contents immediately. Unlike with him or Richard, the serum worked faster from the neck. The Boomer immediately collapsed onto the ground in seizure-like convulses. ...

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**Chapter 5 complete. Hope you all like it. Remember to R&R. I can't read your opinion if you just think it and click off the Fanfic :P**


	6. Chapter 6: Another

**Okay, sorry I'm late people, but I had my reasons (No, I'm not putting them here :P)**

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Chapter 6 - Mutation

The Boomer twisted and gurgled as something which looked and sounded unpleasant occurred internally. Based on Steven's comments, Richard knew the Boomer's entire stomach area was being rebuilt into a less damaged form. Deciding to take a closer look, Richard shot his tongue out, wrapping it around a light pole, and swung over to where Kieran was standing.

The Hunter had barely moved since he had injected the Boomer. He was waiting, claws at the ready, to handle any commons drawn to the commotion.  
Richard in the meanwhile, was simply staring at the mutating body before him. Kieran had told him that the process of returning an infected to a cured status was horrible, but he had no idea until now that Kieran had really meant HORRIBLE, not just gross.

The Boomer's huge stomach deflated like a large, flesh-coloured, balloon, causing a burping noise to issue from the creature.

Its skin ripped and stretched taut as the serum repaired genetic damage to the body's skin and internal organs.

Slowly, the oversized Boomer shrank down to the appearance of a normal, overfed human (if one which wears torn and bloodied clothing).

With a final groan, the Boomer stopped twitching and stood up uncertainly. The last of the serum kicked in as he did so, causing all his lost hair to regrow, producing a sound similar to a wet mop being thrown on tiles. It startled Richard somewhat, seeing a bald man grow shoulder length hair in under a second.

The Boomer now looked around at the odd pair staring at him. A hooded man and a tall man who's tongue could easily pass as a rope. He also noticed that the tall man was holding another person in his tongue. Digging through his memories, he managed to recall that this person was a "common infected", a normal person gone mad.

Opening his mouth to ask what they were doing, he was shocked to have the hooded one punch him in the gut while striding past him, causing a chain-reaction within the Boomer's body and causing him to vomit all over the common. The tall one retracted his tongue and yelled at the common, adopting a panicked tone,

"RUN! THEY ARE COMING! RUN NOW!"

The infected didn't understand a word, but the tone was unmistakeable. Turning, the infected fled down an alleyway, howls and screams following him as his brethren smelt him and began their chase.

Making a rude gesture at the hooded man, the pair smirked slightly, followed by the hooded one speaking "Sorry, we had to do that to test if your infected powers were still present. Please forgive me. We also decided that a decoy would be a good way to get rid of any infected looking for you or us."

The sound of a muffled screech from a few blocks down informed them that the slimed infected had been caught.

"We had better get going." The hooded man added.

His taller friend hopping on his back, the hooded man leapt onto a nearby building, followed by the tall man's tongue shooting down and pulling the Boomer up.

As he reached the top, a man holding a hunting rifle approached, smiling.

"Welcome to the team."

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**Remember to R&R. The more you give, the more I get ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7: Witch

Hey all! Shad here. I'm sure you're all sick of the exam excuse, but I'm going to have to say...yeah. Been busy.

Now, before you all start- _OWCH! WHO THREW THAT? **WAS IT YOU?**_

**I'm watching you...**

Anyway, I plan to update more often now that those exams are behind me.

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Chapter 7-Witch

She sat there and cried. The Witch was different to other infected. While most infected relied entirely on instinct and hunger, the Witch sub-type of infected had disjointed memories of the past; which would inevitably lead them to cry at the state of the world and the high possibility of those they cared about being dead. Unfortunately for anyone who wanted to help the infected, the Witch's instinct caused them to hate anything which dared to disturb their woe, happily mauling anyone or anything which bothered them...and their claws ensuring that anything that they mauled would never get up again.

This all explained why Kieran, Richard and Jacob, the newly named Boomer, were all standing a good ten metres away from the Witch and speaking in hushed tones while they tried to decide who would be the unlucky mutant who would "recruit" the Witch. The trio had resorted to drawing straws and were still trying to figure out what they could use as the "straw".

"This is suicide. We've watched her for a few days now and the only time she moves, something ELSE dies," grumbled Richard, to enthusiastic nods from Jacob.

"Suicide or not, we need the strength of numbers if we hope to survive," growled Kieran in reply. "Numbers who can THINK RATIONALLY," he quickly added as Jacob inhaled deeply; a sign that he was generating the hormone his infected species was infamous for, the horde summoning pheromone.

The boomer swallowed and nodded at Kieran's point; then grumbled something too quiet for even Kieran's hunter ears to hear, although the tone suggested that, whatever it was, it was not complimentary.

Trying to get back on topic, Richard brought back up the "small" matter of the Witch.

"I still think that you should do it Kieran. You have claws, so she might trust you...plus if we need to run, I'd rather have your legs than my tongue or Jacob's horde."

Jacob suddenly smirked and muttered something in the infected language which the group was developing, the only tongue he could speak in.

"No, I'm not trying to make you two do the job on the basis that I am too unit to outpace a Witch!" Exclaimed Kieran angrily in response to Jacob's words, much to Richard's delight and amusement.

Determined to prove his point, Kieran grabbed the team's dose of serum and walked slowly towards the Witch.

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R&R! I love getting feedback! :)

Now...to get a shield against future objects thrown at me...


	8. Chapter 8: Tangle

***Walks nervously into the room, holding a Riot infected in front of his as a shield.* Hey everyone. Sorry about the wait, I've had the worst case of writer's block. **

**I've brought this to you however.**

**OH SH- *Runs out of room as Molotov is thrown at him***

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The Cured; Chapter 8

The Witch lifted her head as she sensed the arrival of another being.

Seeing a hooded infected, a hunter, she growled threateningly at him. He tried to approach her, but she intensified the volume of her growls until he got the message and backed off, walking around the corner and disappearing from sight.

Appeased, the Witch resumed her crying until she realised that the foolish hooded one had returned. Deciding to warn him, she growled again. But this time, he crouched down and growled back at her.

"GO...AWAY!" The Witch screamed in the tongue of the infected, enraged at the creature having the gall to enter her territory and then challenge her. She slowly rose to her feet, only to be knocked over by the hunter pouncing on her and pinning her arms to the floor, her claws away from his body.

She thrashed about desperately, trying to force him off. He was strong, but she was pissed off and thus stronger.

A second before she would have thrown him off, and doubtlessly torn him apart, a thick, tentacle-like appendage shot out from the shadows and wrapped around the pair, ensuring the witch was still helpless and tying the pair up as effectively as a rope.

The Witch twisted and wriggled in an attempt to escape. But as she did so, a sharp pain shot up back.

Twisting around, she found herself facing what looked like a common infected, although it smelt a LOT tastier. It held a needle in its hand, which had no doubt caused her discomfort.

With a roar, she freaked out. "YOU WILL ALL PAY!" she screeched in pure rage. "I SHALL SLOWLY RIP YOU ALL APART AND FEED YOU, STILL BREATHING, TO THE OTHERS!"

It was at this point that she realised that she shouldn't have thought that lucidly. Her mind should have been upset.

As she puzzled this, the red tinge which coated everything she saw faded away, allowing her to see clearly for the first time since she was bitten. She also became aware of how awkwardly close she was to the hunter.

When she stopped struggling, the tentacle retracted, leaving the pair standing in the center of the room.

Unfortunately for the hunter, the Witch decided that he was still a revolting individual and clapped him across the face, knocking him down and causing his hood to fall back to reveal a 20-ish year old male.

But the Witch was more confused by her hand; it had reverted from the infection. No more talons. But she cringed at the sight of the other, her left hand, which still resembled a set of natural kitchen knives.

Sensing movement, she spun around to see a tall, lanky, man and a shorter one wearing overly large clothing currently helping the hunter to his feet. The odd thing about the pair was that the tip of his tongue poked out his mouth, only it appeared too leathery and the shorter one smelt like a buffet feast.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, the Witch realised that she must be slightly younger than the hunter and felt grateful that she had not torn her clothing badly like other Witches did, or she would have been terribly embarrassed.

She looked quizzically towards the trio in front of her, only for the tall one to smile at her, revealing more of his tongue, and offer her his hand in a gesture of friendship...

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***Peeks around the door* I'm not coming out until I get reviews and the guys over there holding the Molotovs put them away. **


	9. Chapter 9: Fear

**First up, I'd like to thank EVERYONE who added me as a author and/or story alert. Doing so is half the reason I keep writing this, even when I hit writers block. (Which I've had a MAJOR case of in recent times). I'd also like to thank Katara Falcon particular for your encouraging PM. And, as always, my Editor Ikky for making these presentable to all of you on . ;)**

**As I'm sure most of you people are aware, I'm WAY overdue for this.**

**After everything which has happened to me, I no longer can feel disdain towards writers who cannot post due to sickness or examinations. **

**Anyway, chapter 9. **

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Chapter 9 – Fear

The infected sprinted down the road, its mind completely devoid of everything except that one emotion. Fear. It knew nothing else, felt nothing else.

Had it been able to think, it would perhaps have been able to question exactly why it was so terrified. But then again, wondering would have also got it killed.

The whole chain of events, which had now become a nightmare, had started when it had been prowling around with a group of its brethren. They had all been running towards the sound of a gunshot. After all, noise meant food. That was all their primitive brains could comprehend, so they all ran in an attempt to find a meal.

However, strange events kept occurring to the pack. Random infected would be dragged away screaming when the others turned their back. Stragglers simply vanished altogether. One unfortunate trio of infected had been sprayed all over by some sort of grey liquid, which had made them smell like food. The three had died before they could even comprehend what had happened.

The single infected running now was the last member of this horde. However, it was not heading towards the gunshot anymore. It had begun running when the surviving members of the pack had finally rounded the corner to find something that all infected knew by instinct to fear. The reason it was running for its life: a really, REALLY pissed off Witch.

Skidding around a corner, the infected began running again, only to tripover a small stone in the path and crash to the floor. The scream behind it sent its whole body into spasms of fear...then it screamed as pain shot down its whole back...

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Kieran slowly jogged down the street. It had been a full twenty minutes since Lucy, their newly cured Witch, had raced down this same street in pursuit of their last target. All morning, 'The Cured', as they now dubbed themselves, had been practicing their skills and talents on a group of helpless common infected. Lucy had refused at first to join in the game, saying that she was too dangerous and that she may lose control. The others had shrugged it off, saying that he was being irrational, that if they hadn't lost control, why would she?

As Kieran jogged, he mused on how right she was. After much encouragement, Lucy had joined in the game, flipping over a building in front of the remaining commons. As one of them ran up to hit her, her eyes did something rather unnerving: They began glowing their pre-cure red. Before the other cured could stop her, Lucy had shredded half the commons, with only three escaping to run. In order to make sure that she was safe, Kieran had begun pursuit of the rogue Witch, since he was the only one which had the speed to even try doing so.

In his search, Kieran had already found two shredded corpses, their blood painting the buildings around them, so he knew that Lucy had been faster than the commons.

Rounding the final corner, Kieran reeled backwards and turned away. He, like Lucy, had a natural weapon in the form of his claws, so the sight of blood and gore didn't affect him as much as it did the others, but even he was revolted by the sight before him. It was pretty obvious that the last common had indeed been caught, although, unlike the others, there was no clear corpse to mark so. Pieces of flesh were scattered all over the area. Blood soaked slowly into the ground.

Kieran was so shocked that he almost missed the small form crouched on the floor in the centre of the whole mess, crying.

Slowly, the Cured Hunter strode up to the Witch, looking at her right hand and bounding quickly up to her when he spotted the lack of claws there. Lucy turned her head up at the sound, running up to hug the taller being before he knew what was going on, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I d-didn't m-mean all of th-this to happen..." Lucy sniffled into his shoulder, while Kieran gently pat her reassuringly, trying to calm down the distraught Witch. He allowed this to continue for a few minutes before he gently pushed her away to look her in the eyes.

"It's alright Lucy. We've all done bad things. Ask Steven, I tried to kill him when we met. Lets head back to the others; they'll be worried sick about us."

With a final sniff, Lucy nodded and allowed Kieran to lead her back the way they'd both come from; while behind them, carrion birds were swooping down to clean up the grizzly scene the pair left behind them...

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**Well, there you have it. Chapter 9.**

**Hopefully I will post the next one sooner than this one although XD**

**Remember to review and add, every additional person is another reason for me to not just abandon this! :D**


	10. Chapter 10: Scavenging

**To all of you who thought I'd forgotten this, well, apparently I haven't :P**

**This is the tenth chapter. Having been begged, lectured and even threatened with an OOC hunter, I've finally written this up. Enjoy. And, as aways, I think my Editor Ikkad for beta-reading and generally making this story awesome.**

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Kieran sprinted for his life, swearing up enough of a storm to make the average sailor proud. Behind him, he could hear two sounds from the battle behind him. One was the Steven's rifle, clattering as it spat bullets. The other was the Tank in the process of chasing him down. It was the latter which bothered him the most.

"RICHARD! DAMN IT, HELP ME!" Kieran's yell was answered by the familiar tongue of the smoker wrapping around the Tank. The infected didn't even slow down, snapping the tongue by standing on it as he ran after Kieran.

"Kroo oo Kier" The smoker grumbled to himself. Although his tongue always grew back, it still HURT to have it snapped.

Kieran, on the other hand, was now in an even worse situation. Having decided to leap up to the top of a nearby building, the Tank had decided to just throw concrete at him. He wasn't quite sure which he'd rather die by: Concrete to the head or fist to the gut.

Rolling away from another block, he spotted a sight for sore eyes. From one of the windows, a grey liquid showered over the Tank. Inside the room, Jacob smirked. He'd found that since he'd been cured, a hole had opened up on his palms, allowing him to project his horde-summoning fluid without having to taste it as well.

Panting on the roof, Kieran watched as the Tank roared in rage, slaughtering the common infected trying to harm it. Between Steven's bullets and the army of clawing, the Tank seemed to be tiring. Kieran soon realised that looks were deceiving, when the Tank rose back up and grabbed a lamppost, using it as a club to finish off the horde, then as a spear to throw at Steven, who managed to duck under it. He escaped unscathed. The rigged turret he'd set up wasn't so lucky. His gun now resembled a metal pan-cake. "Okay...we're starting to look pretty screwed. Lucy, pass me my backup gun."

Steven's last comment had been to the feminine form beside him. Lucy. Since her mass-slaughter, she'd been reluctant to fight, so she helped the team by serving as Steven's wingman and bodyguard.

Smiling, Lucy handed Steven his hunting rifle...followed by falling. When she'd stood up to hand him the gun, the Tank had seen a chance to kill something and thrown concrete at her. She'd been lucky – he aimed badly, having only been clipped on the side of her head, or she'd have been worse off.

Roaring, the Tank charged at the downed form of the half-Witch, the ground shaking. A howl distracted him, followed up by his attempts to get the Kieran off his back. The Hunter wasn't willing to let his sister die without a fight.

After a few swings, the Tank threw Kieran off, punching him into the ground for good measure, before losing interest in him. Normally Tanks wouldn't lose interest so quickly, but the sight of the one he'd hit before standing back up certainly drew the Tank's.

With a defiant roar, the Tank began to charge Lucy again, the bullets from Steven's rifle not even fazing him now. The other two cured and their human partner could only watch as the Tank got closer and closer to Lucy, who seemed to still be concussed, holding her head desperately.

As the Tank got within punching distance, the monstrous infected roared, then punched at the Witch.

Lucy's body smashed backwards through the building behind her, causing all watching to cringe. Richard was just glad that Kieran hadn't seen that. The Hunter had grown extremely close to the Witch, their personalities being so similar. A tear dripped down Richard's cheek as he watched the Tank roar in victory. All was lost. If they were lucky, he and Jacob MIGHT escape. But there a problem: They couldn't abandon their friends, especially Steven, who was currently staring at the Tank from the roof and still had a chance at surviving. Then again, Kieran still had hope too. They'd seen the Hunter take more than that without any long-term damage. Just not all at once.

Then...everyone froze. The cause was the horrific sound currently emitting from the hole Lucy had caused/fallen into. Standing in front of the building now was Lucy, eyes glowing a sickly red and the screech of an enraged Witch causing even the Tank to think twice. Then it roared and ran at her, with the smaller Witch doing the same.

On the ground floor, Richard swore, Jacob coming up to stand beside him. "Bwoah..fe's pwaying tikin wiff a KANK. Wucee going oo get erelf KILLED. AHIN."

Jacob only shook his head, bracing himself for Lucy to die again. It was going to hurt, a LOT, to see the Witch die again.

As the Tank got closer and closer, Lucy tensed up. She wasn't quite her timid self right now. Currently, she was in feral mode. All she knew was self-preservation and to protect her family. And this Tank had just threatened both. With the force of a released spring, Lucy shot up, her left hand carving through the Tank's head like a hot knife through butter.

Landing behind it, the Tank's body slumped to the ground, Lucy checked around for threats...then collapsed unconcious.

Stunned, Richard raced to Lucy's side, Steven coming up a second later. Before anyone could stop him, Steven had wiped the blood off Lucy's claws, explaining himself quickly "She'll freak out if she has blood on them again. When she wakes up, tell her that Kieran did it."

Behind them, Jacob jogged up, Kieran over his shoulder, and muttered a series of words in infected, Steven responding immediately "Yes, I do think that she'll believe me despite Kieran's condition. In fact, it might help our cause."

With a shrug, Richard lifted Lucy onto his shoulder and watched Steven pick up the duffle-bag full of gear: Their original goal and the reason he didn't have his curing syringes. As the trio began their trip back to their latest safehouse, Richard's voice drifted down the alleyway "Neh gime we go cavaging, oo ringing oo'r ringes. End og shkowy."

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**With any luck, this story will not take a long to update AGAIN. :) **  
**Remember, the more comments I get, the more I write. So get your mouse on that button! **


	11. Chapter 11: Recovery

**Hey everyone! Sorry for how slow this has been. It's been rather busy for me. I have many reasons. It boils down to laziness and busy real life.**

**As always, I thank Ikkad for beta reading and editing this story. I know I wouldn't keep writing without him to make sure I don't mess up epically! **

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**Chapter 11: Recovery**

Kieran slowly opened his eyes, the pain in his chest threatening to push him back into unconsciousness at any time. With a bleary-eyed gaze, he looked down the bed to the other being fast asleep there. With a grin, he gently picked up Lucy, who had fallen asleep worrying about him, and placed her on his lap. As he did so, she looked up to him "Hey Kieran. Glad you're alright. You had me worried after that Tank clocked out. Steven had to set half of your ribs and an arm."

Kieran grinned at that "Hey Lucy, you should know better than to think that something like THAT would keep me down."

Lucy giggled and Kieran smiled down to her. Lucy was like a sister to him, their bond stronger than any other pair of Cured. Kieran put it down to their mutual claws, but Lucy said that perhaps they'd known each other before the infection, although Richard scoffed at the idea. What were the odds of the Cured randomly curing a pair of siblings? The odds were less than one, especially since Kieran had been in self-defence and Lucy was a random Witch they'd found. But Lucy still had total faith in her theory.

Sitting away from the siblings, Richard struggled with another problem: Teaching English to Jacob. "Come on Jacob, you can UNDERSTAND us. Why can't you SPEAK it?"

Richard's only reply was a shrug from the Boomer. "Geez, you can REALLY be useless when you want, can't you?" A nod. "So why not speak then?" A shrug. "ARGH!"

Steven looked up from his reassembling of his hunting rifle at Richard's cry of frustration. "You know, it's possible that he never knew how to speak English BEFORE the infection. That would explain his lack of speech."

Richard scowled at this "So why does he UNDERSTAND it?"

Now it was Steven's turn to shrug "It's possible that the cure affected his brain. Or he's just a quick learner. I mean, he learnt your infected speech VERY quickly. Even I have trouble keeping up with his fluency."

Jacob laughed at this and said something rapidly in the infected tongue, causing Richard to punch him lightly on the arm. "Hey, he said he had TROUBLE, not that he CAN'T keep up."

As the Smoker said this, Steven jokingly pointed the unloaded gun at Jacob with a smug "bang."

The Boomer did something very uncharacteristic of his species in reply to this: He leapt up and was up the stairwell to the next floor in the time it had taken Richard and Steven to comprehend what had happened and burst into fits of laughter, the claw siblings joining in a few seconds later. "Geez...he's such a coward sometimes!"

It took Richard half an hour of coaxing and threatening before the Boomer came back down, looking sheepish. "Well, unless someone ELSE wants to scare the Boomer, we need a plan."

Steven looked up at this. "Well, first we need to narrow down what you guys, and girl, understand about the infected."

Richard blinked at this. Sure, he felt feral instinct inside him, urging him to claw out the eyes of his foes and to choke them until they moved no more, but he didn't see how that related to this. "Steven...how...?"

Steven explained quickly "Your natures reflect your own infected types. If you can tell me how they think, we can outwit your kin. We need every advantage we can get in these fights."

With a nod, Richard spoke up, reporting his feral nature urging him to strangle. It was followed up by a translated report by Jacob speaking of his reflex to always try to hide amongst others when something startles him.

Then it was Kieran's turn. The Hunter sighed, then described the thrill rending flesh gave him and the completely mad urge he received commanding him to aggressively assault anything which threatened himself or his family. Lucy's report wasn't much different. She could always feel something at the back of her mind, it always shying away from her, yet she could feel its rage and woe, its reflex to kill anything which got too close.

Throughout the explanations, Steven just nodded and noted their comments, before replying "I expected as much. It seems that the infection remains have heightened your natural instincts and responses."

With a sigh, Steven looked at the four beings and pulled out a pistol. "I'm going to teach you how to use these as well. Your natural weapons may be useful, but guns have their own uses as well, ranged combat being high on the list."

After a few seconds of confusion, the group nodded and Steven began his long explanation of gun operation...

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**Now, a chance for all of you readers to get involved! I'm now accepting voting on what Infected should be cured next. PM me or add it in your review. Either way, at the end of the tally, I'll write up which Infected will be cured next. (Votes for already-cured or non-special infected will be nulled, as will your OC character. Sorry people, throwing OC's into a story gets messy. I'm pushing it already XD).**


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